Emma Peña

Owner of El Vaquero Western Wear

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Having gone back and forth between the U.S. and her hometown in Jalisco, Mexico, Emma Peña first arrived in the United States in 1976, opened El Vaquero Western Wear in 2003, and has now lived here for 40 years.

Peña first encountered the entrepreneurial trade while working with her uncles, who were businessmen in Guadalajara, starting from when she was 17. Peña had been selling her unique Western merchandise door-to-door for 14 years before she was finally able to open her own shop. Starting out with virtually no capital was tough, especially considering Peña had to do it largely by herself, acting as her own mentor. “The only help that I had was from the suppliers that were selling to me,” explains Peña. The day she was finally able to open El Vaquero is a time she looks back on as one of her proudest moments.

Peña has always wanted to be a business owner. Though starting out was difficult, running her own business has allowed Peña to fulfill a wide scale of her dreams. “I began with something very small. I always dreamed of having a place for my family, and now I have had my business for 14 years.” Today, El Vaquero Western Wear offers quite a variety of traditional Western clothing, including boots, hats, and jewelry.

To achieve success, Peña advises to put in the work and refuse to listen to negativity and discouragement. “If you have a dream or goal do not give up. You can achieve anything if you keep working at it.”